Brianne Noonan, 28, of Albany, and Jessica Garrity, 29, of Troy prepare to sample hot dogs from Famous Lunch on Congress Street in Troy during an Albany Aqua Ducks tour of the Collar City on Wednesday. (Andrew Beam / The Record)

TROY -- "My name is Duncan Crary and I am a Troy supremacist."

Those were the words spoken by Crary as he introduced himself to those on the Albany Aqua Duck tour meant to pit the City of Troy against the City of Albany in a battle of which urban area is better.

The line seemed the to be blurred between the two cities as Crary led the informational tour in Troy and Maeve McEneny, a tour guide with the Aqua Ducks, spoke her piece while the vehicle was in Albany. While it was a competitive atmosphere on the tour, McEneny said it gave the tour more of an appeal.

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"When it has a competitive edge, all of a sudden people want to defend it, they want to defend their city," McEneny said. "If the competition brings people out, then we want to do it. It makes people want to explore their cities, learn more about it and defend it."

And defend it they did as passengers were armed with duck bill callers, allowing them to quack at things they agreed or disagreed with. That line, though, was also blurred at times.

McEneny was given a brief chance to give her side of the argument before Crary took over, heading down I-787 and going over the Troy Menands Bridge, through South Troy and the downtown River Street area where Rockin' on the River was in full swing.

He gave attendees the history behind the "ladies entrance" sign at the South End Tavern, told the story of how a character in Troy author Herman Melville's book Moby Dick was the inspiration for Starbucks Coffee, and even poked fun at Albany as he said, "We keep our creeks above ground."

His main objective, though, was to show how walkable and liveable Troy's downtown area is, with hopes of attracting more young professionals. It's a city Crary loves and he is willing to tell anyone about it.

"I am a Troy proselytizer," Crary said. "I will promote Troy to anyone and everyone. Any chance I get I sing the praises of Troy."

While winding down and having a beer with some fish and chips at the Olde English Pub on Broadway in Albany, Crary said he had fun with the tour as he said the city is full of "quirky historical facts."

When talking about the layout of Troy, he admitted that he is fascinated by its architecture and how it was intricately planned out.

"Each component was designed to complement the next component," Crary said. "When standing in Monument Square, you look east and see The Approach of RPI on the hill. Look south and you see the Rice Building. It's meant to reward you as a pedestrian."

The event, put on by Mary Darcy and Greg Dahlmann, editors of the blog All Over Albany, was billed as an informational tour for residents of both cities' residents, in a different and fun way. It was also a way to work with the businesses that support the blog as they included places including Bacchus on Second Street, where owner Jim Scully led a conga line of people dressed in togas before delivering wood-fried pizza to the passengers.

"We wanted to do something we knew would appeal to the AOA crowd," Darcy said. "Of all the cities, Troy would be easiest between its history and its architecture."

When discussing new ideas with McEneny and Crary, Darcy said she and Dahlmann noticed a back and forth of stories going on between the two and a light bulb flickered on in their heads.

"We thought, 'What about Troy?'" Darcy said. "Then we thought we could make it a smack down."